But. A career copper, he joined what was then Sussex police in 1986 aged 21. ", GMB's Susanna Reid forced to change outfit after fears it was too 'racy' for morning TV, Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid has revealed she had to make last minute alterations to her dress after bosses and herself feared it was too racy for morning television, Who is Lisa Hogan? She and Halliwell lived on the same street. In March 2011, Sian OCallaghan vanished on a night out in Swindon. A police telephone trace threw up a clue - he had texted her half an hour after she left the nightclub saying, 'Worried'. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 25 years. You then tried to manipulate the police and court process to try to avoid getting what you deserved., They are words Fulcher has waited many years for. Natalie Corner For Mailonline Indeed, Fulchers commitment to the victims of crime shines through during our interview. All rights reserved. From the point of his suspension in September 2012 to around April 2013 Mr Fulcher was obliged to inform the force if he planned to leave home for more than 24 hours, extended to two nights after a request to take his daughter to look around universities. I pleaded with him for Sians life, he recalls. Halliwell admitted he had murdered Sian, and directed Det Supt Fulcher and his team to her body near Uffington, Oxfordshire. Yet no one was interested.. Her boyfriend, Kevin Reape, raised the alarm at 9.45am the following morning when Sian hadn't turned up at . Latest weather models confirm that a bitter cold snap is on the way for Ireland. Monday 7 October 2019, 5:22pm. He had killed her two minutes after she got in his cab. By now, the search for Sian centred round the nearby Iron Age fort of Barbary Castle. Lara Keay For Mailonline Asked about the difference between roles Fulcher and 'Tim' from The Office, he added:'I'm very, very pleased that I've been able to do other things that have resonated with people.'. So I thanked him and explained that he would be given his rights, taken back to the police station, 'I interpreted "you and I should have a chat" as some quid pro quo, I thought he would want the deal in terms of me catering for his family who would be affected by his incarceration.'. On the day of his arrest, Halliwell spoke to Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, and admitted to murdering two women and dumping their bodies in shallow graves. He then offered to take the detective to the spot where he'd buried another victim, and procedure dictated that Fulcher should have charged Halliwell and returned him to a police stationwhere he had access to a solicitor - he decided not to. The disappearances of Tina Pryer, 39, Thi Hai Nguyen, 20, and Sandra Brewin, 21, have also been linked to the killer. Officers observed Halliwell depositing a perfume bottle, car seat covers and bloodied tissues in bins in assorted rural locations. Martin Freeman plays DS Stephen Fulcher in new ITV drama A Confession. 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In his book, Steve says: At the bottom of a pond that was 8ft deep they found Sian OCallaghans distinctive boot. Martin Freeman - plays Supt Det Steve Fulcher. What happened in the interim eight years?". At 9.45am he called the police to report that his girlfriend had gone missing. Instead resources went into investigating me for years.. A wealth of experience which was brought to bear when, on March 19th 2011, office administrator Sian OCallaghan was reported missing by her boyfriend after being last seen outside a nightclub in Swindon town centre in the small hours. The force arranged for an independent misconduct panel to convene. At Wiltshire he had solved several murders while simultaneously gaining a Masters Degree in Criminology from the University of Cambridge. And despite Karen Edwards best efforts, there have been no changes to arrest guidelines. Fulcher's career was left in tatters when he was found guilty of misconduct after prompting a second murder confession from Sian O'Callaghan's killer Christopher Halliwell. Instead, seeing a window of opportunity, hed driven him to the field where Halliwell claimed another body would be found. Sian O'Callaghan's boyfriend had reported her missing after she failed to return from a night out with friends in Swindon, Wiltshire, in March 2011. No trace of her has ever been found. He's not forensically linked to outstanding cases. 'I can't rule out that there are other victims. Monster is currently serving life for killing Sian OCallaghan, 22, and Becky Godden, 20. "But for my course of action Becky would still be in that field, Sian would never be found and Christopher Halliwell would be walking the streets.". It doesnt even sound true. February 18, 2015 - Halliwell is arrested on suspicion of murdering Miss Godden. The worm, however, quickly turned. It's just not going to happen. Christopher Halliwell, 54, is serving two whole life terms after killing 20-year-old Becky Godden and Sian O'Callaghan, 22. It has been devastating for everyone, he says quietly. It was a moment which, perhaps better than any other, summed up the monstrous injustice meted out to DS Fulcher and exposed the deeply warped priorities of our legal system. For his emotion, when it comes, isnt for his own plight, but that of Becky, Sian, and their families. And where had they gone next? Under the PACE code of practice (relating to The Police And Criminal Evidence Act of 1984), DS Fulcher should have taken Halliwell straight back to the police station as soon as he confessed to Beckys murder. However, DS Fulcher, played by Martin Freeman in the ITV drama series, was found guilty of gross misconduct and given a final disciplinary warning. Her husband Glyn has spent 13 years in jail for her murder but maintains his innocence, with his lawyer saying he would be 'very surprised' if he had committed the crime. His crime, if that is even remotely the appropriate word, was failing to follow to the precise letter police procedure something Fulcher says he did because it was the only way to get to the truth. 'I am really open-minded there is an eight-year gap between Becky and Sian,' Memory said. A judge then ruled that Halliwell's confessions to killing both victims were actually inadmissible as evidence in court. Indeed, it was only thanks to Fulchers instincts honed from 25 years of painstaking investigations and cat and mouse detective work that two young murder victims had been found. Later that year, he resigned, his police career over. The offending behaviour for Becky was cold and calculated. Steve explains what happened next: 'He said, "You and I should have a chat". He wanted to seize the opportunity to grill Halliwell before it was too late. The senior echelons arent police officers at all. A decorated police detective whose career was left in tatters after he decided to pursue a confession from a suspected killer without following strict policing guidelines, has said he has no regrets. Instead of bringing Halliwell back to Gablecross police station in Swindon where he would have had access to a solicitor, Fulcher ordered his officers to take Halliwell to a nearby Iron Age hill fort called Barbury Castle. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Realising something was seriously wrong when Sian failed to come home or answer his texts, Kevin raised the alarm. It has emerged Halliwell was obsessed with Linda after doing building work at the Razzells home four years before she died. Naturally, trying to ensure this places huge pressure on senior officers. His career was in tatters. If I had followed procedure, then Sian and Beckys bodies may never have been found yet it seems thats what senior authorities wouldve preferred. Christopher Halliwells lawyers argued successfully that the confession should not be put before a jury. The fallout for Steve Fulcher was huge. With time running out, DS Fulcher then took Halliwell to Barbury Castle, a beauty spot outside Swindon, where he suspected Sian was being held. He [was] kind of crawling up the walls. In essence, Fulcher was using his experience to make a judgment call a call that took him on another car journey with Halliwell to rural Gloucestershire. TWISTED Christopher Halliwell could be one of Britains worst serial killers, says the detective who put him behind bars. Youre seriously telling me theres nothing in between or either side? There wasnt an alternative that wouldnt involve ruining my chances of Halliwell opening up.. It took four more years of campaigning for it to be allowed, and last September Halliwell was convicted of killing Becky and burying her body in a field at Eastleach, Gloucs. His story is a true story, and one which . He lost his police pension worth 500,000, had to sell his house and now works training police in war-torn Somalia. He argued that the original judge (Mrs Justice Cox) had been correct in her ruling, but that since Halliwell had "unequivocally" pleaded guilty to Sian's murder, the concerns over PACE were "no longer relevant.". Fulcher played by Sherlocks Martin Freeman ended up in a difficult ethical position that led him to find the killer, but in an unorthadox manner that ultimately ended his career in the police force. Pope said: Watching the series with him afterwards, it was almost unbearable. He was scrolling through pictures on his phone of other women, leading me to suspect there were other victims. You dont sleep, you dont eat, its a 24/7 commitment, says Fulcher. He maintains that he would not have persuaded Halliwell to confess had he not taken this gamble. Their sentiments, however, are not shared by the police or the legal system. January 2003 - Becky Godden, then aged 20, is last seen alive after getting into a taxi outside Destiny & Desire nightclub in Swindon. Halliwell is serving life for killing Sian OCallaghan, 22, and Becky Godden, 20. Then he turned to the officer in charge, DS Steve Fulcher, and said: Do you want another one? He then told them where he had buried BeckyGodden many years earlier. She was found in a shallow grave near Uffington in Oxfordshire, stabbed in the head and strangled. In May 2014, Fulcher resigned from Wiltshire Police. The cop's life imploded when he caught depraved killer Christopher Halliwell. Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher speaks at a press conference at Gablecross Police Station in Swindon on the murder of Sian O'Callaghan, MARTIN FREEMAN as Steve Fulcher and JOE ABSOLOM as Christopher Halliwell, Elaine Pickford, played by Sobhan Finneran, was grateful to DS Fulcher. The programme explores whether Steve's actions were brilliant detective work, or arrogance and recklessness which ultimately cost him his job. The delay in Halliwells trial with all the resulting trauma was entirely down to an obsession with procedure, rather than the pursuit of justice. 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There is an obsession with procedure at the expense of the bigger picture. All the while, Fulcher delayed making an arrest, hoping Halliwell might lead them to Sian, whom he fervently hoped might still be alive. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. Yet that wasnt all. Beckys mother, Karen Edwards, began a petition calling for a change to arrest guidelines. Fulcher decided not to take Halliwell to. Quite rightly it gives protection to the innocent. Im terrified for that poor baby. DS Fulcher was found guilty of gross misconduct The following January Det Supt Fulcher was found guilty of gross misconduct and given a final disciplinary warning. Yesterday he was sentenced to a full life sentence, a tariff reserved for those, like Moors Murderer Ian Brady, who are considered to be societys most dangerous. According to the PACE rules, he should have cautioned the killer and given him access to a solicitor after discovering that Sian was dead. If the media outside the nick had found out, they would have had the headline of the year., News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. I was prepared for this his case wasnt defendable so it was the only thing they could do but I thought reason would prevail. In it, he argues that his actions were to preserve the life of a hostage, as he was working on the assumption OCallaghan could still be alive and that Halliwell could lead him to her. Halliwells father lived a few streets from the home of chef Claudia Lawrence, who has been missing since March 19, 2009. Sian OCallaghans family certainly think so, as does Becky Goddens mother Karen. After his arrest, Halliwell revealed the location of Sian's body. When cornered by detectives, Halliwell admitted that he had killed Sian and led them to her body. In May 2012 Christopher Halliwell pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering Sian O'Callaghan, but when he appeared in Bristol Crown Court in October 2012 he pleaded guilty to her murder. Another potential victim is prostitute Sally Ann John, 24, who vanished from Swindon in 1995. That girl, we now know, was poor Becky Godden, a much loved daughter who had fallen into drug addiction, prostitution and, ultimately, Halliwells evil hands. Oscar-nominated scriptwriter Jeff Pope based the drama on Det Supt Fulchers memoirs and independent research. However, four years later judge Sir John Griffith Williams decided that Fulcher's evidence could and should be heard in court as part of the case. Two months later, dismayed at Wiltshires Forces disinterest in both reinforcing the charges related to Becky Goddens murder and other potential victims, Fulcher asked to be reassigned to the National Homicide Team. 'But for my course of action Becky would still be in that field, Sian would never be found and Christopher Halliwell would be walking the streets.'. It took a jury just two hours to find him guilty. Can you have a police force that simply ignores a serial killer?, Karen Edwards, the mother of Becky Godden-Edwards, commented: Had he have followed the guidelines, then Becky would never have been found, she would have never have come into the equation.. A TIMELINE: How Christopher Halliwell was brought to justice. PACE is there for a reason. A suspect soon popped up in the shape of taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, whose green Toyota Avensis had been seen near the nightclub and close to Savernake Forest, where Sians mobile had last given off a signal. 14 Aug 2019 ITV ITV's A Confession throws up an unimaginable ethical dilemma that real-life Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher faced in 2011: break police protocol to catch a serial killer. In September 2013, the Independent Police Complaints Commission found that Fulcher had a case to answer for gross misconduct for breaches of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act and for ignoring force orders. She and Halliwell lived on the same street. Det Supt Sean Memory, the senior investigating officer in the Godden case, said after he was convicted in 2016 that Halliwell may have killed others. The CPS should have appealed. Joe Absolom plays the Swindon taxi driver Christopher Halliwell who had taken the lives of two you women. In the aftermath of Halliwells arrest, Fulcher was nominated for a Queens Police Medal the highest honour in policing for his work in extracting the brutal killers confession. March 30, 2015 - Halliwell is charged with Miss Godden's murder. The judge ruled: "I am satisfied that the evidence of the conviction of the defendant of the murder of Sian O'Callaghan is admissible to prove the defendant's propensity to commit murder. 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